Pan

Not for me. There are only 6 pinned threads on the New York forum. Do you have your browser set to show only 5 topics per page? Then go into "Options" - "Board Settings" - "Number of topics to show for each forum page" and toggle the number 100, or whatever number of topics you'd like to show on a page (I have 100 set).

Fingered Citron, Buddha's Hand (Citrus medica var. sarcodactylus) ← Yeah, but it looks like a mutant alien from outer space in one of those 1960s or 1970s sci-fi thrillers (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, anyone?). Truly, nature is a wonderful thing. It's been said that God has a sense of humor. I think we have to extend that to the growers who have bred these varied foodstuffs over the centuries.

This thread is making me develop a craving for tripe. I think I'll order tripe soup from Teresa's as part of my dinner tonight. Great stuff, Daniel!

Is anyone lobbying to save the lives of those little diatoms?

Please do! I'd be very interested to see what a country whose people have such diverse origins produces.

Is Ada Buoni's book in Italian? Do you have her other book that goes region by region or is that it? I don't recall ever seeing her stuff in stores here. I really like the mixture of anchovies and mushrooms, even ordinary cremini 'shrooms get elevated that way. And lemon and mushrooms are good too; really wakes up those flavors. ← Hi, Kevin. I was misspelling her name. It's Ada Boni with one "d." I did an amazon.com search under that name and found the following title: I'd post a link, but I suspect my link might not work. Here's the beginning of the "Editorial Review": The reviews are mixed, with praise that this is cucina della nonna and criticism that many of the substitutions made to adapt it for American kitchens are no longer necessary. The Italian title turns out to be not Il Talismano della Cucina, as I always thought, but Il Talismano della Felicità. Here are some used copies of the full and small versions in Italian for sale.

Neither can those who want to eat breakfast. ← Breakfast is overrated!

Steven, the other solution is to eat late and go to sleep late. Of course, those on 9-to-5 schedules can't do that. Also, in some countries, there's a very humane institution called the siesta.

Ah, that's something I cook! I use the recipe in Adda Boni's Il Talismano della Cucina, though not slavishly. I always use plenty of lemon juice in funghi trifolati. Try that some time. It's probably a recipe from another region, but the combination of lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, pepper, and garlic with the mushrooms is delicious. And I find that even with regular mushrooms, this dish always pleases. Another ingredient I use when it's around at the time I decide to cook the dish is some anchovy paste. I think it's listed as "optional" in the recipe (which is in an English translation put out by Ronzoni), but it really improves the dish. Mushrooms are great, aren't they? I do not add cheese to funghi trifolati, by the way. The cheese goes with some other dish I would make, such as a pasta with tomato sauce.

Except for calling a couple of Christian friends, I like to ignore the existence of Christmas on Dec. 25 by going down to Chinatown for dim sum or just sleeping in. I'm sure I'm not the only one. I thought all non-Christians in Christian-majority countries had a little of that bah-humbug attitude. But more seriously, there are some Christmas-season things I like (e.g.: the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center; great performances of Handel's Messiah and the Bach Christmas Oratorio on TV or radio; nice gigs playing beautiful Catholic or Lutheran religious music), but they're not food-related. I think that would be different if I lived in a country with great traditional Christmas foods. I've read about traditional Christmas foods in parts of Italy, for example.

Chef, this is so fascinating! One question occurs to me: What is your sleeping schedule like? Do you have regular hours, or do you stagger them so that on some days, you're awake to supervise MidRats and on others, not?

Have a look at this absolutely fascinating thread: Submarine Cuisine

How many seats will there be?

chardgirl, do you get negative phone calls about radicchio because of its bitterness or what? I actually think really fresh radicchio is terrific, and it's only because the radicchio we get in New York is rarely fresh enough that it's often a bit more bitter than I prefer.

Do you remember what part of the island the town was in?

edsel, you think dill is good dried? I never liked it any way but fresh, but it's possible that the dried stuff I had wasn't nearly as good as yours. But still. And mint, fresh is definitely better.

Where's "here"?

True, but I suspect that as Bush is an elected representative of the nation and therefore would be expected to represent a majority view, it is easy to make the leap that the food of the Bush's is also representative in some way. Not nessarily true obviously.[...] ← Obviously not. If election returns are the basis for judgments on who the current occupant of the White House might represent culinarily, he would generally tend to represent residents of rural and exurban areas rather than cities, the South rather than the North, the interior rather than the coasts (especially not the Pacific coast or the Atlantic coast starting with Maryland and points north), whites rather than blacks, and Christians rather than Jews or Muslims. Of course, these are all gross overgeneralizations, but they do point us to the idea of discussing the extent to which the dishes in the cookbook actually do represent Southern/Midwestern/Southwestern/Rocky Mountain states exurban/rural white Christian cooking. And note that we already have been discussing that...

That's a truly amazing set of photos, and it'll take me quite some time to get through all of them. One question: Armenian Cucumber is called a "true melon." I thought regular cucumbers were also a kind of melon. Perhaps someone could clarify what makes something a melon.

The comparison is that both are places that are widely considered to be the best at what they do and real New York institutions, and neither place is known for its fancy decor or choreographed service.

So, he's responsible only for the innovation of chilling the soup. Can I serve a chilled chicken soup and claim that I invented something?

Poultry (chicken, turkey) heart is very fibrous. Beef heart is more like a very good steak with some liver taste. At least, that's how it seemed to me when I ate a beef heart dish recently.

It's often claimed that Chop Suey is of American origin, but I'm unconvinced. Some of the folks who frequent the China forum are of the opinion that that's just a "use up the leftover scraps" home-cooking dish from Toisan (or was it Guangdong generally?). Vichyssoise is of US origin? Wow, now that one's a real surprise! Tell me more.

Ruth, I've been really enjoying your posts and thank you for having this conversation with us. As many folks here know, Chinese food is very important to me and has been since my early childhood. I grew up in Manhattan and used to enjoy Fukienese (as we used to spell it) food at Foo Joy; dim sum at Nam Wah (where I also played with the owner's son); Manchurian hot pot at a long-gone restaurant right around where Goody's is now at Chatham Square; and the food of my local "Mandarin" restaurant, Chun Cha Foo on the Upper West Side. The first Sichuan-style restaurant I remember being really good was between 109 and 110 Sts. on Broadway, on the second floor of a block-long building (I forget the name), though I suspect it was still a far cry from what's available now. Nowadays, with the tremendous growth in the number, variety, and quality of Chinese restaurants in New York, I tend more toward Spicy & Tasty in Flushing, Grand Sichuan (St. Marks and the Midtown location), Congee Village, and Yeah Shanghai, but I have had the pleasure of enjoying Taiwanese, Chao Zhou, and Fuzhounese food. Perhaps you'd like to reflect on the changes in Chinese cuisine in New York (and, if you like, throughout the country), and mention some more of your favorite Chinese restaurants in New York.

Which Paris 3-star do you think doesn't deserve a star? Also, what did you think about Luger getting a star while Katz's was not even mentioned in the Michelin Guide for New York? Which of those things surprised you more?